1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image filing apparatus which stores a document image in a storage medium together with index information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the number of offices using image filing apparatuses for high-volume preserving and controlling of documents has been increasing. Such image filing apparatuses typically include an index indicating the contents of each document information whereby document control is performed based on the index.
Apparatuses which use image data as an index instead of character data are proposed, for example, in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 477,470, filed Feb. 9, 1990, 478, 250, filed Feb. 9, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,504, issued Nov. 8, 1994 and 601, 445, filed Oct. 23, 1990. When using an index image as described in these applications, the index image must be registered in advance. Furthermore, in these applications, an index image is assigned using a keyboard of a filing apparatus.
In order to facilitate the retrieval and storage of such document information, an image filing apparatus which uses a mark sheet having information relating to the retrieval and storage has been proposed in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 061, 739, filed May 17, 1993, and 061,743, filed May 17, 1993.
However, when registering a new index image and storing a document using that index image, several independent steps must be performed by the user, namely: setting a mode of forming the index image using a keyboard or the like, registering the index image, setting a mode of storing the document image, and reading the document image. Such operations are troublesome for the user.